Not Knowing what I don't know...

[Stoo]

If you have to ask other divers if you're ready to dive solo then you're not ready.

I was reading through this thread and came across Tassie's post, and I think he has hit it right on the head. At 50 dives, IMHO, you are stil very much a rookie diver. Which isn't to say that you can't begin to dive alone, but just go slow.

What's the old saying? "Experience is what you gain right after you needed it..." When you're diving alone, there's no one there to help you sort out even minor problems, and even after 35 years of diving and 33 years and thousands of solo dives, I still have the occassional dive where something "interesting" happens...

By all means, equip yourself with double everything... tanks, knives, computers... but at the end of the day, that stuff is just dead weight if you screw up. More equipment doesn't make you a better diver. That comes from experience and learning from your mistakes...

Solo diving is the ONLY way to dive for me. Enjoy it but go slow...

 

[DaleC]

Hi PvtS,

I've been thinking about your question and I think I understand what you are asking.

For myself, one of the things I don't know that I know (or know that I don't know) is the strength of tidal and down currents on some shore dives. They can unpredictable and quite strong around here so I don't solo exposed shorelines or no bottom sites.
The "Cut" at Whytecliff park for example is a shore entry dive that has an approximately 700ft. bottom and is exposed to a current that can take a diver out into the strait. With a buddy I have the "illusion" that we can work out a problem together but I don't want to have to deal with a situation alone that might cause me to lose contact with the wall or bouyancy there. My "doubt" is that I can deal with all gear problems and maintain position in a strong rip or downdraft current. With a known bottom or the predictable currents that a bay offers (for example) I know that a problem that causes me to lose bouyancy or position won't automatically be life threatening.

Dealing with gear malfuctions is one known problem and unpredictable currents are another known problem but the two combined can create an unknown situation (if you know what I mean) so I avoid dives that potentially mix the two.

 

[Darnold9999]

This is a question that can't be answered with a list. If it was then learning to dive would be just a matter of having a checklist. If X happens do Y. It is not a matter of working through a list, it is more a matter of learning what can go wrong, how to recognize when things are going wrong and learning how to apply your previous experience and your current tool set to the current situation.

It is also a matter of learning when you are about to do something stupid, before, not after you have done it. That is avoiding those "that was really dumb, I could have died" moments that we have all had.

Notwithstanding that here are a couple of things you don't know.

You don't know yet when to call a dive. When the dive has put you in a position where, or even better is about to put you in a position where, if something goes wrong you are beyond your abilty to recover. This only comes with experience. To mitigate this I personally err on the conservative side. If I am uncomfortable in any way about the upcoming dive or continuing the dive I call it even if I don't know why exactly. (By conservative I mean conservative for me which may be ridiculously risky for someone else.)

You don't yet know how you will react to adverse conditions or an emergency.

You don't know how risky the risky dive you are proposing really is.

You don't know if your skills and personal resources are up to solving serious problems in the water.

You don't yet know how to prioritize things that are life threatening vs those that are just inconvenient.

There are a whole list of things you have never experienced and that you don't know. Diving a lot fills in these blanks. For example:

Can you recognize a significant down current and do you know what to look for to get out, and do you know how to get out. Can you recognize an oncoming CO2 hit.

I mention these two because I just experienced both for the first time recently. At 300+ dives I had the tools to solve both on the fly. At 50 dives I might not have.

Not to say you have to experience everything before diving solo. I certainly have not, but I am confident in my ability to resolve them on the fly and experience has shown me that so far my confidence is not overblown.

A final point. All of the above applies to buddy diving with an inexperienced buddy. If the person you are diving with has no more experience than you then having a buddy along isn't going to help much anyway. They can retrieve a lost mask, they can go for help, and they might be able to disentangle you, they also might make it worse. That's about it. IMHO most buddy diving is overrated in terms of making diving safer.

 

[DiverBizz]

Have you taken a Rescue Class? Practice carrying pony (when you get one) with a buddy prior to a solo dive. Practice switching from reg. to pony. I know of LDS owner, who as you are solo, he may come up to you with no reg. in his mouth and see what your response is. I like solo diving and really haven't gone deeper than 50ft. while solo diving. I am going to practice my skills prior to my next solo. I haven't been out in a few months. Practice, Practice, Practice, oh and have fun.

 

[drdaddy]

You are obviously asking a very good question about the "unknown" and obviously the "unknown" only becomes the "known" by two ways - 1. Your Experience & 2. The Experience of others. I kind of expected others to share their experience of the unknown to you. So allow me to share this with you. I had gone through many scenarios and worked them through as well as practice them, but an obvious omission is what I'd like to share.

I hope no-one is getting tired of me saying this - and if you are, please skip this post.

The only time I have gotten into any serious problems was on a solo dive. I had not practiced the obvious. In an OOA situation you have no air to your BCD. And your pony (which I definitely recommend in solo diving) does not attach to your BCD. When I got to the surface the waves made it very difficult to orally inflate my BCD. If I had it to do over (which I pray will never happen again) I would have orally put some air into my BCD before kicking to the surface. My BCD was empty because I had dumped it in order to pounce on a really big dungeness crab (I thank God that I was able to eat him )!

So, I like to remind people (especially myself): About OOA drills - Remember that a pony does not attach to your BCD, so when you practice using your pony also practice orally inflating your BCD (and periodically practice dropping your weights).

I also will relate to you my "buddy" diving of yesterday, by saying, "Every dive is a solo dive." Before the dive, I had discussed with my buddy that I wanted to check my buoyancy since I had adjusted some equipment and weight. I told him that I wanted to do this at the beginning and end of the dive. At the beginning of the dive he waited patiently as I did the maneuvers. At the end I told him again that I wanted to check with an empty tank. So here I am (still had 1000 left in a 100 hp steel) by the rocky jetty, sometimes waves from passing boats, with entanglement possibilities from our dive-flag, and my buddy is nowhere to be seen - he'd gone back down to mess around. When he did come back up he crawled out onto the rocks and back to the truck. He did come back down (he is a helpful person) without his gear on to help me carry the flag and speargun, etc. - but he had no gear to help me if I had been drug back down or had been bashed against the rocks. I always have my pony on and try to think "solo", even when diving "buddy" so I did OK. And he and I will discuss this (buddy diving) next time I'm diving with him. I just wanted to tell you one reason that you are always responsible for yourself, even when you buddy dive, the main difference is that in buddy diving, you are responsible for someone else as well.

I really appreciated the others sharing about "losing your mask" drills. I always carry an extra mask, but I really need to practice putting it on in difference situations. By the way, the only time I've ever had mask problems is when a "buddy" kicked it off !

drdaddy

 

[b1gcountry]

You asked for what ifs, so here a list off the top of my head.

What if:
You accidentally run out of gas?

You overstay your planned bottom time by 10min?

You overshoot your max depth by 20'?

You lose buoyancy from your drysuit?

You lose buoyancy from your wing?

You run into the bottom and silt out?

You lose your bearings, and can't find your exit?

You can't exit the water under your own power?

Your hands get so cold you can't remove your gear?

You forget your pony?

You run into another diver who is OOA?

You drop down into low vis, and don't hit the bottom at the expected depth?

You jump in the water with your air turned off?

You jump into the water and start sinking?


It's not meant to be conclusive or 100% applicable, but you should have some sort of plan to avoid or deal with issues like these. You should also be reasonably sure you will be able to put that plan into place, whatever it may be.

Tom

 

[Doc Harry]

b1gcountry has great list for you.

In addition to fully thinking through all the various scenarios, you should also be well practiced.

When I go solo, I stop in 20 feet of water and run through a list of skills that I have written on my wet notes. These skills run from mask removal and backup mask retrieval, to valve drills, to backup light retrieval, SMB deployment, dry suit emergencies, etc. I even practice taking off my mask, closing my eyes and hovering motionless, maintaining my depth.

If everything goes well, then I proceed on with my planned solo dive. If not, then I stay where I'm at and practice, practice, practice.

 

[b1gcountry]

I do this occasionally. Just make time for fun dives or things get boring.

I leave off the valve drills while I'm on my own. I just forsee a CF one day when I forget to switch a reg back on.

Tom

 

[Ardy]

Pvtstash - A thought occurred to me whilst reading the last couple of great posts on what you dont know. You strike me as a very logical and questioning sort of guy.

If you really want to understand what you dont know do a cave diving certificate. This will sort you out and you will come out of this a far more humble diver believe me. I have two dive mates both instructors with over a 1000 dives each who decided to do this course. It scared the **** out of them and made them realise what they didnt know. In fact at one part of the course the instructor informed them they would have been dead at that point.

So maybe this would be more 'real world' for you. I am sure that there are several divers on this site who could give you places near where you live and thoughts on what the course is like.

Why haven't I done it? It sounded too hard core for me. Freezing, zero viz water and very tight complex plans that had to allow for multiple things going wrong. Didn't sound like fun to me but if you want to be a great solo diver do this course and maybe you will be.

 

[PvtStash]

the caving cert. , and I've often thought of it... its in my 10-15 yr. plan...

I live in NW Ohio and its not practical to get that kind of training as yet...

locally I've found an SDI outlet that I'll be able to take the Solo course through (once I have the min. 100 dives)...

I've also not ruled out a DIR/GUE/Fundies type course ,but I always have higher priority things to do with that kinda money besides dive training...

It'll get sorted out... this board has been a boon and i'll be sure to make no quick/unconsidered moves.